What the Legal Practice Act Means for Everyday Trust Accounting

A practical guide to what the Legal Practice Act and s86 require of South African firms in their everyday trust-accounting habits.

Motsela — legal practice management for South African law firms Motsela is practice-management software built for South African legal practice. It brings matters, trust and business accounting, the court diary, documents and client FICA records into one workspace, hosted in South Africa. What Motsela does

Matters — every file in one place, with parties, deadlines, work in progress and fees earned.

Trust & business accounting — Section 86 trust ledgers kept separate from business money, with a double-entry trail for your auditor.

Court diary & deadlines — court dates, task chains and reminders.

Documents — matter-linked documents and templates, versioned, with an audit log.

Clients & FICA — client records with FICA status tracked and re-verification flagged before it lapses.

Billing — invoices, statements and debtor tracking.

Security and compliance Data is hosted in South Africa (Google Cloud Johannesburg region), encrypted in transit and at rest, isolated per firm, and every sign-in requires an authenticator app in addition to a password. Handled in line with POPIA; trust accounting follows the Legal Practice Act. Contact Email support@motsela.com or call 078 135 5344. 32A Railway Street, Polokwane, Limpopo, South Africa. Monday to Friday, 08:00–16:00 SAST.